Exposing Jammeh’s Fraud – What Needs to Be Done (II)

Intimidation, Manipulation and Misuse of State Resources

There is abundance of proof Jammeh has jumped on every opportunity to skew
the electoral competition to his advantage through crude and sometimes
illegal methods. He has not hesitated to use his toadies and thugs to
obstruct the opposition and its supporters. He took every opportunity to
coerce, frighten and pressure ordinary citizens into believing he is the
best thing since Kanilai.
He has stacked the IEC with his closet stalwarts and in effect blatantly
jeopardized the independence of the IEC. He has succeeded in controlling
the state media to use it at his discretion. The IEC has served Jammeh’s
purpose by failing to enforce electoral laws against the A(F)PRC.
The decision by the IEC to set the presidential election date to September
22 was not by accident. The IEC decision was intentionally contradictory
to the electoral laws in that it contravened the requirement within the
constitution that all stakeholders be consulted to set the election date.
A much more devastating effect of this decision is that in case of defeat,
Jammeh will have to stay in power beyond the constitutionally mandated
sixty days since his current five year tenure is to officially end at year
end. In its bid to satisfy Jammeh’s whims, the IEC has single handedly
committed the biggest constitutional blunder in the history of elections
in The Gambia. It is obvious the IEC will continue to serve Jammeh’s
purpose. The opposition should not expect the IEC to take any of their
complaints about A(F)PRC violations seriously; they tend to dismiss these
on the basis of some absurd technicalities.
UDP/NRP has just reported their campaign team was recently waylaid by
Jammeh’s thugs in the Brikamaba area. There cannot be a more brazen
example of what Jammeh is ready to do. He will do anything to increase the
pressure on opposition activists by denying them of services and benefits
they are legally entitled to, such as state security and the right to hold
rallies. Instead, they could be arrested and jailed, beaten up or even
murdered. These cowardly acts could send a chilling message effectively
creating a climate of fear.
Jammeh has also applied more subtle pressures like threatening to sack
those civil servants suspected of being opposition supporters reducing
their families and dependents to derelicts overnight. Jammeh may even go
to the extent of trying to keep opposition candidates off the ballot by
levying unfounded accusations of treason; by attempting to murder them; or
by declaring them ineligible according to his dictates. They have already
started talking about Henry Gomez’s (GDP) legibility to contest elections.
These are some of the blunt ways Jammeh will attempt to rid himself of any
threat to his throne.
In addition to threats and thuggish ways applied by local organizers and
A(F)PRC campaigners; they have reportedly used gifts and effectively
bought votes from opposition supporters in the past.
By coercing government officials and cabinet members to do his biding for
him, Jammeh is involved in the most blatant, most assiduous misuse of
state resources not withstanding the fact that he behaves as if he owns
the state. He has mobilized state employees to campaign for him at
government offices; they have used government vehicles and state owned
fuel to travel to rallies; paid allowances to those officials on his
campaign trail; the list goes on.
Jammeh has never faltered his use of the control he has over the state
media. He has repeatedly used the avenue to trance on the opposition at
his discretion.  He has ensured that independent media is dead by all
means. He has proven many times he will not hesitate to detain, threaten
or physically attacked and murder any journalist that is sympathetic to
the opposition view. He has succeeded in doctoring laws that protect his
behind on the pretext of anti-defamation. He has succeeded in restricting
free speech by all means.
Moreover, while GRTS and the Daily Observer are ensuring coverage emphasis
on issues and problems amongst the opposition, other privately owned media
are understandably economical in their coverage of the gigantic strides
made by the opposition. Fair play does not exist in the media coverage
despite cosmetic attempts like the recent one hour program by Malick Jones
where he invited the opposition leaders. That was a commendable feat by
GRTS but is a pee-wee effort compared to the constant coverage of Jammeh’s
theatrics.
 It is unfortunate the opposition can do virtually nothing to avert some
of the blatant misuse of state resources and obvious biases manifested by
the IEC. One thing they can certainly do is to apprise themselves of
these violations, monitor and document all violations and more
importantly come up with countermeasures to alleviate the effects on
their voter empathy.
They can endeavor to strengthen their strategies in those areas where the
violations have the greatest impact. They should always find indigenous
ways and means to counteract the violations and accrue more support while
on the campaign trail. Standing up to the thugs will have to be the game
plan and ensuring any attempt to instill fear and intimidation tactics on
the opposition activist is equally reciprocated, albeit in self defense.
The opposition must be particularly mindful of last minute changes to the
election process by the IEC. Such changes are intended to undermine fair
play and confuse the electorate in favor of the A(F)PRC. The IEC could
possibly close off critical parts of the process against scrutiny by the
opposition and the public or other independent monitors.

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